Chapter 9

"Oh my gosh, he's alive!" Sam opened his eyes to see Fred place a hand on his chest. "Man, you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you were dead." Fred concluded with a sigh.

It took some time for Sam to realize that he was laid on the library table.

"Are you okay?" Came a soft voice from Miss Sanders, her tone laced with concern.

Sam turned his head to meet her eyes, her eyes that showed genuine feelings of care in them.

He nodded in reply to her question and tried to stand up but was met with a sharp pain over his body which made him lay back down.

"Easy Melon" said Fred pushing him gently on the table.

Sam was too tired to retort Fred's words, his whole body was sore all over causing him to wince at the slightest movement.

He wasn't sure what happened or why his body was in its current condition. He turned to the female teacher for an explanation.

As if reading his thoughts, Miss Sanders opened her mouth to speak.

"You know facts about soul energies, right? she began, leaning closer to Sam. "Your body tends to have a high amount of soul energy which needs to be fed to your contracted beast. But from the looks of it, your contracted beast does not absorb your soul energy at all."

"Is it bad?" Fred inquired, cutting her off.

"Worse!"

Sam didn't need to be told what was going to happen to him. He was so engrossed in soul energy manipulation that he lost sight of the bigger picture, the most important thing.With no contracted beast acting as a medium, the soul energy inside of him could damage his muscles and ruin his body. What he just experienced was a fraction of what's to come.

"As in, he could die from an overload of soul energy." Concluded the teacher.

"Ooh, that's bad!" Fred said scratching his head, before he said to Sam. "Melon what happened to your contracted beast?"

Fred wondered why Sam's contracted beast was different from the one he was accustomed to. If his contracted beast refuses to absorb his soul energy for Sam to use, it could cripple or worse still disfigure the pretty boy. Speaking of which, he almost forgot his deal with sam when he offered his help.

"I don't have a contracted beast" Sam let the bag of the cat.

For a brief moment everyone was silent as if taking in what Sam had just said.

"Say what?"Fred tilted his head hoping he heard wrong.

Miss Sanders had a placid look on her face when Sam revealed that information. She couldn't believe her ears, an uncon able to manipulate soul energy. She thought Sam was pulling her legs and checked his face for confirmation which was serious showing that he wasn't lying. No wonder she had been attracted to him at first.

"So how long was I asleep?" Sam asked hoping to ease the strange situation he caused.

....

Time moved pretty fast for everyone as the bell rang for closing. Within minutes the school was becoming empty as the students flocked out of the building.

After revealing his condition to Fred and the female teacher, they were stunned at first but later on Miss Sanders came up with an idea or a theory. Soul energy inside a summoner's body is circulated or rather purified. Soul energy contained a large amount of energy which the human body could not withstand. It could empower as well as destroy the human body. Hence the introduction of a contracted beast. Sharing soul energy with a contracted beast allows the user to manipulate their soul energy easily and grant them a boost in strength.

Miss Sanders had suggested a way for Sam. She thought that since summoners shared their soul energy with their contracted beast, Sam should find a medium where he can transfer soul energy.

The bell had just rang and with everyone leaving, Sam grabbed his bag and turned to leave. He stopped when he remembered his promise to Fred. He didn't like the fact that he owed someone.

"So what can I do for you?" Sam asked when Fred came close.

"Great, you remembered. Although it's nothing much, just something only you can do for me. Come I'll show you." Fred said half dragging Sam.

Sam didn't say anything as he followed his lead but he began to have second thoughts when he was led to somewhere he didn't recognize.

Fred took him deep into the school premises that were overgrown with tall grasses that towered over them.

"I just wanna drop my bag home before we go" Fred said quickly, sensing Sam's discomfort.

'Bag? Home? Does that mean he lives here' Sam was saying in his mind when they came across a building or rather a large hut Fred claimed to be his home.

Sam's house was a luxury compared to the one standing in front of him. Fred's house looked to be completely made out of mud. It wasn't painted or polished. On the top of house were palm fronds which serves as roofing for the house.

'You live here?' Sam wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut when he saw Fred enter the front door.

The front door..... Well there was no front door, just a hole in the wall that led to the inside. Sam refrained himself from looking inside the house.

Seeing the building in front of him, Sam began to reflect on his life. His father had struggled daily and did everything possible to make ends meet putting them in a house that was at least better in comparism to this. Yet he was still mad at him for what happened, an accident that occurred few years back.

"Come let's go" Fred said excitedly, as he came out of the house holding a cob of corn.

He broke the corn into two and offered the other half to Sam. Sam politely declined, and walked ahead.

Fred shrugged his shoulder before keeping the corn.

"So what was this offer you had in mind." Sam said itching to know. He had to be aware of what he was getting himself into beforehand.

"You'll know when we get there" a playful grin appeared on Fred's face causing Sam to rethink this all over.